'Big Short' investor Michael Burry says the Tesla boom is 'remarkably similar' to the dot-com and housing bubbles

• Michael Burry compared the Tesla boom to the dot-com and housing bubbles.
• The "Big Short" investor said he'd spoken to mechanics, dealers, and other Tesla experts.
• Burry is short Elon Musk's electric-vehicle company and is a frequent critic.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The hype around Tesla reminds Michael Burry of the dot-com bubble in the late 1990s and the housing bubble of the mid-2000s, he said in a tweet on Monday.

"In the SF Bay Area, $TSLA vehicles are everywhere," the investor said in a tweet that has since been deleted.

"Everyone I know owns 1+, though some have gone back to ICE," he said, referring to the internal combustion engines of conventional cars.

"I've talked to industry players, down to the mechanics," he continued. "Remarkably similar to 1999 and 2006."

Read more: EXCLUSIVE: An asset manager overseeing nearly $100 billion divested from Exxon over concerns that it's failing to move fast enough to address climate change

Burry's billion-dollar bet on a US housing-market crash was immortalized in the book and movie "The Big Short."

The Scion Asset Management boss, who has been a vocal critic of Tesla for several months, revealed in December that he was short Elon Musk's electric-vehicle company.

"I live in the land of $TSLA," Burry said in another tweet on Monday. "I know what a Tesla car is. I talk to the mechanics and dealers. But being short is so much more than that."

Tesla's stock price has rocketed more than 800% since the start of 2020, lifting its market capitalization to north of $780 billion.

Read more: Canadian regulators just approved the world's first Bitcoin ETF. Here are the 5 things investors need to know about the outlook for a US version.

Burry also tweeted last month that the striking rally was similar to past bubbles in internet stocks and housing.

Of the idea that Tesla's lofty stock price is self-fulfilling because the business can issue shares to fund its growth, Burry said, "Saw this same thesis many times while partying in 1999."

"My last Big Short got bigger and Bigger and BIGGER too," he said in another tweet. "Enjoy it while it lasts."

The Scion chief has slammed Tesla's sky-high valuation, paltry sales, minimal profits, and massive market capitalization relative to other automakers.

Read more: GOLDMAN SACHS: These 40 heavily shorted stocks could be the next GameStop if retail traders target them - and the group has already nearly doubled over the past 3 months

Burry has also described the company's battery technology as "inferior" and flagged reports of its cars catching fire.

"What do $TSLA, $BTC, option gamma traders have in common? Rhymes with Rubble," he tweeted in November.

Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.